History

SOME HISTORY

Papcastle dates back to Roman times. The fort of Derventio stood at the top of the hill and the substantial civilian settlement or vicus below it. Excavations in the twentieth century have resulted in opinions that the place was a town of size and importance of Corbridge (by Hadrian’s Wall) ; it possibly served the western end of the Roman frontier province as its armaments producer. After the withdrawal of the Roman authorities in AD410, almost nothing is known until modern times. The fort was a source of good stones and was robbed out – Cockermouth castle certainly has masonry from here and no doubt local farmers made good use of its free supply of stone. The oldest dating of any substantial house in the village is 1623 although it is likely that some of the cottages will have earlier roots. The nineteenth century saw the building of a number of mansions. The character of the village changed considerably when The Mount was demolished to make way for an estate of 45 modern houses built on its land starting in 1966.